Posts Tagged ‘beauty tips’

You may love going to the stadium or arena to watch a game or match, or you might find it an activity bordering on torture. Whichever is the case, you should aim to look and feel as optimal as possible. Cute and comfortable is the best way to maximize your enjoyment of any sports event.

To that end, here are some style and beauty tips for watching live sports.

• Stay away from high heels. I can’t believe I just wrote that. But yes, flat shoes are a must. That has to do with the tricky terrain of stadiums, which includes possibly having to navigate steep and windy stairs, tiny bleachers and long walks from the car to your seats.

I like cool motorcycle boots, weather permitting, because they are sturdy and keep you balanced. But in the summer flats work nicely. Avoid open toe anything.

I was at a hockey game where a Lilliputian blond in precipitously high heels had to be practically carried by her date whenever she tried to get up from her seat. Gallant guy that he was, by the third period the whole thing seemed to be getting kind of tedious for both of them.

• Showcase up top. Dress your lower half thoroughly, and in rugged materials. That is because stadium seats, even the good ones, are not the most dainty places on the planet.

Also, you should expect to be reasonably squished together with lots of other people. Mostly men. Crouching your way across a row of oversized dudes to get to your seat, all the while wearing a miniskirt or show-em-all-you’ve-got tight leggings, is not my idea of a good time. Probably not yours, either.

This makes denim or cargo pants a no-brainer, or even thick-ish tights and a cute skirt.

Upper body is for style. Since you might be wearing denims (nice-fitting ones in good condition, lady!) and boots, you might find that the upper half of your body is where you can show some individual style and polish. Wear a cute, fitted top and bring along a smart jacket or sweater to cover up.

Why does beer taste better during a game?

• Some accessory ideas.

A good looking scarf made from nice fabric, and in a beautiful color that flatters your skin, hair and eyes. An instant cleavage-cover, too, if you’re not feeling quite comfortable.

I usually go for a drink and something to eat with friends prior to hitting the stadium. I’ll wear earrings and a bracelet to polish things up. While walking to the sports venue I’ll typically cover up with the jacket or sweater and stow the jewelry in my pocket.

Ah, makeup. Here’s another area where you can bust out the glamour. Makeup your face nicely and use some bright colors.

Since you’ll be up close and personal with your date, seating being closely knit and all, keep your hand light and blend, blend and blend to achieve a look of natural beauty.

Related point: Bring some nice peppermint breath freshener with you; a nice touch for when the kissing camera comes your way. Or when the spirit moves you.

The speed and deftness of players makes ice hockey seem like a ballet on ice…

Until they start beating each other’s heads in

I really like ice hockey, so this post is biased towards matches in nicely chilled indoor stadiums. But it’s entirely possible that you’re getting ready to go to an outdoor arena on a sunbaked summer day.

Some tips for summer sports events:

Tons of sunblock. Everywhere. The backs of your hands included.

A hat is not just a handy style note; it’s an awesome sun-buster. I avoid anything with a brim unless it’s a polo match. (It’s the close seating thing again that makes big brims unwieldy.) For baseball, soccer and football, select a baseball hat that flatters your head (a brim that’s not too small or large) and face shape also.

Attitude isn’t everything, it’s the only thing, said famed coach Vince Lombardi. This was meant for his players and it most definitely applies to you, Miss Fetching Spectator. No matter how cute and put-together you look, going to a game is ultimately about having fun with your friends or your guy (hopefully, he’s both!) Parking delays? Lines? Tons of people everywhere? Be flexible and go with the flow. Smile, cheer, laugh. Sing along to the cheesy fun songs blaring out of the speakers.

When I landed in Las Vegas I headed to the ladies room to freshen up. I had plenty of time; I was meeting a couple of girlfriends who were arriving in an hour or so. So I did a bit of observing and noticed a thing or two: Folks arriving in Las Vegas look just fine, and those leaving Las Vegas – not so much.

It wasn’t just the eyes, red and blurry, and the faces that were bloated, with dry, blotchy or pimply skin. It was the overall energy of the people who were dragging themselves on planes to head back to wherever that did it; weary and not so bright.

About three days later I had pretty much joined them. On the Vegas scale of carousing, I had barely left the suite. I had even worked out a couple of times in the hotel gym. But I had drank, in three days, what I would normally consume in a month or maybe even two. Eating? Sleeping? Not so much. If you’ve read Practical Glamour, even a page, you know that I’m all about maintaining, guarding your natural assets – skin, figure, hair, nails – so they stay lovely for the long haul.

That said, here are 5 vital beauty tips to keep the party monster from having its way with you when you’re visiting Las Vegas.

Packets of C, and B too

Vitamin C is the queen of all antioxidants, and B is a superb Vegas supplement because alcohol zaps your body’s stores of it, particularly Vitamin B-12. I found that while I might bring along a few multivitamins, it’s rare that I’ll actually take them, and they end up in the trash like discarded M&Ms when I’m packing to leave.

I like Emergen-C mostly because you can find it everywhere, they work and it’s hard to miss the little envelopes, which are easy to pack in your luggage or stow in your purse. They are loaded with C and B, and you can quickly add one to a beverage when you’re sitting on the plane or having lunch. Plus, they taste quite good; fresh and kind of fizzy.

Water

See, this is very basic, but you’d be surprised how easy it is to get a drinkable glass of water, or 20, while in a hotel room in Vegas. Little plastic room service bottles just don’t do the trick to counteract the dehydration that comes with drinking a couple of buckets of vodka.

So make it a point to hit your nearest drugstore and buy an endless supply of water before getting the party started. Your liver will thank you. Your eyes will thank you when they look at your skin in the mirror the morning after. And FYI, there’s a rad, newish Walgreens drugstore, open 24 hours, towards the north end of the Strip, outside the Palazzo and the Venetian.

Get in the habit of ordering a glass of water with every drink. Drink a cocktail, drink a glass of water. Repeat. And if you can find a spare lime in the place, squeeze its juice into your water glass and drink, drink, drink. Limes are fierce little Vitamin C carriers, and they are a naturally potent way to banish booze breath, which is notoriously unglamorous.

Know Your Number

You should have oodles of fun while in Vegas, but you can’t really have an optimal trip if your days are spent puking and sleeping. Or dragging your fading self down the Strip because you’re super-fatigued. Everyone know there’s a line between being buzzed and happy, and being too fogged to function – or care.

Think about your number, the one where, after drinking, you go from category A to category B. Memorize your number and promise yourself that you will not step a foot or take a sip over it. Emblazon that number (3, 8?) in your mind, your soul and scratch it on your drinking-hand wrist with a Sharpie if you think it will keep you from crossing over to the dark side while dancing on a table top at Tao around 2 in the morning. Or 3, who’s counting?

Save Your Skin

No matter how trashed you get, do not – do not – forget to remove your makeup before hitting the hay. It is beauty tip 101, but forgetting to do so does damage too terrible and scientific to get into here, so just trust me on this one. To avoid this sin, leave your face-cleansing stuff near the sink before you go out, and don’t forget to have a ton of cotton swabs on hand to thoroughly remove your eye makeup.

If you know in advance that your usual 20-minute nightly face ritual, complete with toners and serums and eye cream, is not going to happen, invest in some quality makeup removing cloths to at least remove the shellac before going to sleep. PS. Brush your hair, too. This is more of a cosmic tip, but you’ll want to release all that energy and smoke from your follicles so they don’t interfere with your dreamtime.

Preview Your Shoes

If the idea of being caught in flats after the sun sets in Vegas is horrifying, read on. High heel fans note: You’ll be walking a-plenty even if you travel by car, because casino and hotel complexes are huge. Don’t make Vegas your first out-of-town trial for a new pair of fabulous heels unless suffering is your game.

Before leaving on your trip, wear your new heels around the house or promenade around town wearing them to make sure you’ll be able to stand them while carousing in Las Vegas. And not just stand them, but walk and dance and flirt and have an excellent, all-around time in them.

If there is a pair of heels you love but they hurt in spots, identify the issue. Dr. Scholl’s has a good variety of shoe fixits, and their high heel insoles make heel-wearing more comfortable by moving the pressure strictly from the ball of your feet. If these insoles work for you, think about making them standard for all of your high heels over 2″. The insoles cost about $12, which you can figure into the price of any new pair of heels you’re thinking about adding to your collection.

Every year the IMATS (International Makeup Artist Trade Show) swings through town. Not just mine, a lot of them, as seen here. I go religiously to check out what is new and exciting and to check in with the fine people at some of my favorite lines, like Youngblood, Napoleon Perdis, MUD and Jane Iredale.

But the biggest draw is always the lineup of makeup artists who do seminars and talks on specialized topics. Men and women from all over the world who have been doing makeup professionally forever, and know of every tip, trick and process when it comes to using makeup to enhance that beautiful and unique face of yours.

And, since my focus is how to use any and all of your assets — skin, hair, figure, manner and movement — to present the most authentic, attractive and optimistic version of yourself to the world — and reap all the benefits that come with this proposition — I am always on the lookout for super-strategic tips to help make this happen.

Here are 5 new tricks picked up at the IMATS that I’d like to share:

Mascara First. Napoleon Perdis was the first one to school me on this, and makeup artist Rae Morris seconded it, and for the following reasons: it defines your eyes, giving you an easier visual blueprint of strategy for applying the rest of your eye makeup. It is an application process that’s best done meticulously, not in a scramble at the end of your makeup regime when you’re thinking about how you have exactly two minutes to get out the door. And, putting on mascara first will make it easier to clean up any stray flakes from your cheeks — easier to do on bare skin versus having to corral them from a freshly made-up face, foundation and powder and all.

Visualize an invisible, parallel between your eyebrows and nostrils–to create the look of a wider nostril span, use your tools to create more open space between your eyebrows, as seen on Ms. Talisa Soto, easily one of the most beautiful women in the history of mankind…

Your Eyebrows, Your Nose. If you desire, visually “cut” the span of your nostrils by using your brow pencil and/or powder to move the your eyebrows closer. In other words, if you feel that you would like the width of your nostrils to appear more slender, move your eyebrows closer together. No unibrows, though! And vice versa. If you would like to give your nostrils a more expansive look, tweeze to create a greater distance between them.

Match your foundation to your shoulder, not your neck. As sort of seen here in this pose…the skyline of that awesome city Dallas seen behind me

Foundation Match Point. Rae Morris recommends matching the color of your foundation to your shoulders — not your neck. One’s neck is usually much paler than the rest of the body, making it a bad proxy for determining one’s perfect foundation shade. This is easy to check in the mirror: Turn to face your side, and dip your chin to meet your bare shoulder. Your face, with foundation, should match the skin tone of your shoulder.

Give Yourself Some Glow. Mix yourself up some fine face glow by mixing Vaseline (or a favorite balm) with pigment to create a custom cheek, eyelid or lip color, says Ms. Sarah Lucero from Stila, which is a true makeup artist’s brand. Don’t limit yourself to pigment designated for ‘cheeks’ or ‘lips’ either. A lot of boundaries have been coming down in makeup in recent years, as women find that some products work fantastically beyond that which they were initially created and marketed.

Wrong, wrong, says makeup artist Rae Morris. The back of your hand is no place to check out a new lipcolor.

A Fingertip Trick. Why do we test lipstick by swiping it on the backs of our hands? Does that area in any way resemble our lips? If your lips are as the same shade as the back of your hand, then you need to increase your iron intake and see a specialist, and stat, young lady. Much better, says Rae Morris, to test a prospective lipstick color is the tip of your finger, which approximates the color and texture of your lips.

So that’s it, folks. In the future I’ll be posting some errant tips and tricks that I pick up from….everywhere. In the meantime, stay authentic and attractive. In other words, Stay Glamorous!

When it comes to center-stage facial traits, your lips probably play second fiddle only to your eyes. Chapped, dry and otherwise unwelcoming lips are often the result of poor habits, such as smoking, lack of hydration or proper nutrition. Another culprit is exposure to the elements, particularly during cold, windy and rainy months.

While only you know what you need to do to correct the poor-habits issue, the second one can be offset by a bit o’ lip maintenance. To that end, here are some tips:

Cover. Always protect your lips while outside. Use a lip protectant that provides a physical block in the form of rich, natural moisturizers as well as a sunscreen element. I find the best ones at the health food store.

Hydration Nation. Double up on moisture when inside: drink plenty of water to keep the body hydrated.

Massage. Rub an absorbent moisturizer into the lips at night before bed. Spend a minute or two softly massaging and relaxing the skin and muscles of your lips and their surrounding areas, particularly at the corners of the mouth.

Vitamin E. An excellent natural lip moisturizer is Vitamin E. Split open a capsule of the stuff (buy natural E, not the synthentic type) and massage it onto freshly cleansed lips. Use the excess as an eyelash and eye-area moisturizer.

Relax. During the day, do whatever you can in your earthly powers to keep from pursing or crinkling up your lips on any kind of an ongoing or sustained basis. If you’re not convinced of the outcome of this habit, look at the mouth of a guy or gal who has spent the last few decades sucking on a Kool.

No Lipstick Zone. Gals or Others Who Wear Lipstick: remove every trace of it before going to bed.

Exfoliate. Regularly eradicate the dead cells that build up and cause chapping and flaking with the help of a super-soft toothbrush or washcloth. Be very gentle, and use the brush or cloth to exfoliate lips when your skin is moist, such as right after taking a shower. After you are finished, remove all traces of dead skin from the area and follow up with an application of moisturizer.

Applying ice to your face is one of the most effective and easy things you can do to kill acne. I heard about this from an aesthetician and a friend who was a patient of Dr. James Fulton (the co-creator of Retin-A and developer of Benzoyl Peroxide) who is considered something of the grand master of acne slaying.

To Do:

After cleansing your face in the morning and night, spread an ice cube lightly on your skin (or just the pimple-prone area) for approximately one minute.

Make sure you move the ice quickly around your skin lest you risk ‘burning’ your skin.

The ice takes down swelling, redness and inflammation and, for some, will shrink pores.

Maintain the beauty of this very visible (and vulnerable) part of your beauty canvas by a consistent regimen of protection and care.

Use a high-SPF sunblock daily, either in the form of lip balm or sunblock formulated for the face. (Go to the health food store for this one.) Keep it with you and reapply to your lips throughout the day as needed.

Massage a rich, quality moisturizer into the lips nightly. Use light strokes, making sure the product is well absorbed–note that the skin that covers your lips is thinner than that which covers the rest of your face, so be oh-so-super gentle.

As needed, slough off dead skin cells from your lips to keep them soft and lovely. This can be done via the use of a mild scrub or manually with a washcloth, loofah or the bristles of an extra-soft toothbrush.

The state of your health is reflected in the condition of your beauty canvas, including your nails, skin, hair and even your lips. Pale-colored lips, for instance, are often due to a lack of iron. If needed, supplement your diet with a daily multi-vitamin and mineral formula. Look for one that contains antioxidant heroes vitamins A, E and C.

Intake an adequate amount of fluid on a daily basis. A dehydrated system is evident in dry, chapped lips.

Be conscious of your lip movements, such as persistent clenching or tensing, which can speed the onset of wrinkles. Notice, for example, the pronounced purse lines along the upper lip of a longtime cigarette smoker.

And lastly: kiss someone who is nice, and do so gently, deeply and often.